Letters: German family, abortion decline, RINO

Copyright 2013: Houston Chronicle

Published 5:30 pm, Monday, March 11, 2013

German roots

Regarding "Texas German fading into history" (Page A1, Wednesday), Kyrie O'Connor's column touched long forgotten memories of the strange words I heard my mother speak to my grandparents, of the monotonous sounds of her and my aunt reciting the rosary in 1944 for the safety of my five older cousins who had to fight in the war. I did not understand what a war meant nor could I understand the words that were often spoken and always used in prayer. Unspoken was the obvious fear of being overheard.

The war ended and my grandparents passed. All my cousins returned except one. The memories faded until one day years later at the Eastwood Theater on the East End; in the main feature, "Battle of the Bulge," several lines were spoken by the enemy. The familiar sounds sparked deep chords startling my memory with instant recall of those sounds long dismissed. Troubled by what I had heard I asked mother, "are we German?"

Our family was close-knit with a distinct Teutonic bilingual flavor, yet all-American. After the first World War, my grandpa changed the family name-spelling to Fredrick, abandoning the German, Friedrich. Religious cards once printed in German were changed to English. And mail from our family in the Alsace, which is now part of France, had stopped shortly after I was born. Houston was not Fredericksburg!

I cheered the headline ("Study: Abortions on decline in Texas," Page A1, Thursday), but cringed at the subhead, "New regulations on ultrasounds, waiting periods create obstacles for women, researchers say." I cannot figure out from the article exactly how researchers came to the conclusion (even preliminarily) that "obstacles" presented by the 2011 laws are responsible for women failing to go through with their planned abortions.

Proponents of abortion give lip-service to the importance of offering women a choice, but when laws are passed that guarantee women have more information, they howl at the supposed unfairness. The research appears designed to support the position that anything that keeps a woman from having an abortion the moment she decides to do so is robbing her of her freedom of choice.

But isn't it a real possibility that when presented with the indisputable fact that an abortion results in the death of a child, some women simply choose not to go through with it?

Regarding "Paul's 13-hour filibuster exposes GOP rift on drones" (Page A3, Friday), it is obvious to me and other conservatives that Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina are sporting an "R" after their name, but their true governing beliefs line up more with the Democrats. It's wrong when a Republican senator defends Jane Fonda and disparages two fellow Republicans for trying to get clarification from the Obama regime concerning drone usage in the United States.

It was a question I wanted answered and am proud that Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., asked. This is an over-the-top reaction by McCain and Graham, not to mention breaking the 11th commandment: A Republican shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican.